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Book Two of my series that began in Wales during the Roman Occupation of Britain will be released at Extasy Books on Friday!
BOOK INFORMATION
Title: From Beyond the Curtain
Series: Seren’s Story, Book Two
Publisher: Extasy Books
Release Date: July 14, 2023
Length: 22,500 words
ISBN: 978-1-4874-3897-5
EXCERPT
Prologue
Her place between worlds was not uncomfortable, but neither was it home. Seren suppressed a deep sigh—to sigh would do nothing to advance her cause. Across the centuries she had never ceased searching out her descendants and following their lives, looking for possible candidates in her son’s line and that of her daughter who might fall in love with each other and release her from the limbo where she seemed eternally trapped.
The task looked nearly impossible for much of the first millennium after she died. Once the empire fell, Romans—especially descendants of her son, Marcus—tended to remain close to home. Most were farmers, a few were tradesmen, but none were soldiers or had the resources or desire to travel beyond the boundaries of what they knew. If they possessed any of the psychic gifts that had been so central for Seren, they gave out no clues. The few who were at all aware of her presence tended to dismiss it as merely another dream.
Her daughter Tegan’s line had seemed a little more promising. Tegan herself had trained as a healer, traveled widely across the Silurian tribe bands, and clearly possessed many of the gifts with which Seren was familiar. Seren had enjoyed regular contact with Tegan, thrilled to be at some level a part of the life and lives she had been forced to leave behind. Sadly, Tegan had moved beyond the place between worlds and was once again lost to Seren.
The fall of the Roman Empire had set Tegan’s people back, but as they began to fend off incursions from Anglo Saxons, then Danes, and later Normans, some did travel beyond their island nation, even as far as the booted peninsula known—by now—as Italy. Still, Seren had never been successful in making a match.
Everything had changed once America was discovered—Seren couldn’t withhold a chuckle. America had always been there, well-peopled by indigenous inhabitants. It had simply been unknown to her direct descendants. It wasn’t long before America became the melting pot where Italians and Welsh could freely mix and often fall in love.
This presented an enormous dilemma. By now, Seren had countless thousands of descendants in each of her children’s lines, far too numerous to permit direct contact with even a fraction. She’d slowly learned to focus on those few—in either line—who gave evidence of carrying the gifts. In each line, the gifted ones tended to be more recent immigrants to America, descended from families who had remained close to home and married locals across the years. Seren thought perhaps this process had intensified the gifts.
Would Gwen—Tegan’s descendant—be the one? At the very least, Gwen possessed the gifts and did not dismiss Seren as if she didn’t exist or didn’t matter. Yes, Gwen was delicious in her own right.
Now, the fates had conspired to throw a descendant of Marcus directly into Gwen’s path. This time a sigh did escape Seren. So often she was frustrated by her own inability to bend fate to meet her needs. She could time travel, interact, mind-speak, and persuade, but she had no power to create or change any specific outcome. Often she still felt the capricious gods of her youth were playing with her—the very same gods who had punished her for letting her family be torn asunder. As if she could have prevented it.
No matter. Dante, too, showed promise and obviously enjoyed Seren’s presence in his dreams. Perhaps it was time to move forward.
BLURB
Is she a ghost? A visitor from another time and place? A siren? A temptress? Or just a meddling dream mistress?
Seren has bided her time for centuries, waiting for the moment when two of her descendants fall in love and release her, finally, from the place between worlds. The many gifts Seren has inherited from her ancestors—time travel, entering dreams, telepathic communication—have been unsuccessful thus far. Will Gwen and Dante be the ones?
Gwen McFarland has always been in touch with her Celtic roots. When Seren—who looks to Gwen like a Celtic goddess—materializes and invites her to a love tryst in another time and place, she does not hesitate. That Seren sometimes brings along another woman is simply an added benefit.
Fast paced trial lawyer Dante Emmanuel has no time for sentimentality or relationships. A string of satisfying sexual encounters suits him just fine. He’s mystified when a recurring figure enters his dream life, but he won’t turn down Seren’s exotic sexual talents or the dreams that now seem more real than ever.
Who will make the first move in this three-part game of chess? Timing is everything.
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This sounds like a very cool (and very hot) story. Tweeted.
so cool it’s hot 🙂 – thanks!
WOW, lots going on here. Love the story premise. Good luck!
Thanks, Tena Jean!